Valour win pushes club into playoff hunt

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This article was published 04/08/2024 (777 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Valour FC has momentum swinging their way as the path to the franchise’s first-ever playoff spot just got a little smoother.

With a 2-1 win Sunday afternoon against the third-place Forge FC (7-4-5), Valour (5-2-10) is now three points out of the fifth and final playoff spot in the Canadian Premier League.

“Overall good fight,” said Valour head coach Philip Dos Santos. “Not perfect, but at this point in time, it’s important to get three points, especially looking at the prowess of the opponent and that fact that we’re starting a spell at home, that is important for us.”

Sunday’s match started a four-game home stand at Princess Auto Stadium, and the crowd of 3,798 had something to cheer about early.

In the 11th minute, attacker Jordan Swibel masterfully placed a free kick from outside the box just inside the left post to give Valour a 1-0 lead with his team-leading sixth goal of the year.

“Very happy to help the team,” Swibel said. “First and foremost get the three points, I mean we won last week, I didn’t score, that’s football… As long as everyone’s chipping in, that’s all that matters.”

Forge, which is based in Hamilton, tied things up early in the second half with a goal by midfielder Tristan Daniel Borges in the 53rd minute.

With Forge holding possession for 64.9 per cent of the game, Valour had to capitalize on chances when they came their way — and midfielder Diogo Dias da Ressureição did just that, striking just four minutes after Borges’ tying goal.

“Forge is a team that won’t give you many opportunities…,” said Swibel. “That’s how football works sometimes, you might get battered in the box and they just can’t put the chances away. But for us today we were fortunate enough to grab two goals.”

The squad is now undefeated in their past three games after a 2-2 draw against the league-leading Atlético Ottawa and, most recently, a dominant 3-0 win against Pacific FC last Sunday — their first win in a month.

“For me, it’s the buy-in of the players,” said Dos Santos. “The way they grew together, the way they’ve learned to pay the price for each other I think that’s the biggest thing, go back to simple things.”

Valour’s Jonathan Viscosi faced seven shots on target in another strong performance for the veteran keeper including a huge stop in the fourth minute of extra time.

“I think you can see there’s a bit more compactness and togetherness, especially defensively,” said Swibel. “We’re much harder to break down, we haven’t leaked that many goals.”

In the final 11-game regular-season stretch for Valour, eight of those matches will be at home as the squad hopes to keep up their recent winning ways in pursuit of the playoffs.

“I think our fans are the best in the league and it’s fantastic to play here,” Swibel said. “Everyone loves it. So being at home is really important… I think making this place into a bit of a fortress is our main goal.”

Valour will continue its homestand against York United FC (8-4-5) on Aug 11.

“I don’t get too excited with momentum because momentum shifts very fast,” said Dos Santos. “So when you have it, you have to be more focused on what to do not to lose it, and that’s where my focus is going to be.”

zoe.pierce@freepress.mb.ca